Richmond Bay Campus faces delay

In 40 years, a humble scattering of buildings along Richmond’s south shoreline could become an internationally recognized hub for scientific research. It could end up supporting 10,000 employees and residents, and covering an area the size of 90 football fields.

But presently, the site remains just a small cluster of offices, warehouses and labs, primarily used by UC Berkeley for engineering projects, and there is uncertainty about when the project will start.

In 2012, UC Berkeley, the Lawrence Berkeley National Labs and the city of Richmond announced a partnership to develop the Richmond Bay Campus. The campus would consolidate Berkeley researchers at a single site—currently they’re strewn amongst a number of labs in the East Bay. The Bay Campus project has the potential to make the city an epicenter for bioscience, health and energy research.

But money woes at the Lawrence Labs have temporarily halted construction. Still, all parties involved in the project remain optimistic about its future.